The Crystal Stars
by Ohfortheloveofpete
Summary: A descriptive prologue of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.
1. Chapter 1: Old Rogueport

The Crystal Stars

_You probably have heard of the Crystal Stars, right? However, most information about them is not common knowledge….so Professor Frankly is going to tell you the story about them in detail…._

**Chapter 1: Old Rogueport**

Professor Frankly was sitting on a desk with a book on his lap. Several young citizens of Rogueport were with him, ranging from a Boo, a Goomba, a Koopa, a Toad, a Shy Guy, a Bandit, and a few other children were seated next to him.

"Greetings, children. I see that you have come to learn the story of the Crystal Stars, have you not?" Professor Frankly asked them.

The children nodded, curious to learn more.

"Well then, I shall tell you the story of what happened 1000 years ago….thanks to my friend Mario, I was able to do so...so let's begin the story shall we? Ahem…once upon a time there was a city known as Rogueport. It was a very prosperous town, with an extremely low crime rate."

"Wow! I'd like to live there!" said the Goomba. "Unlike this dump we're in…"

"Mm-hmm….anyways, now where was I? Ah yes…the citizens there were very friendly…"

_1000 years ago…._

"Morning friend! How are you!" a Goomba said to a Toad.

"I'm fine thanks, how are you?" the Toad asked the Goomba.

"I'm having a good day!"

The town had been opened fairly recently, and already it was doing pretty well. It seemed like everything had gone correctly. Everyone there was enjoying their lives at the town, whether they were a commoner or filthy rich. Due to its thriving economy, poverty had not struck the city.

The citizens were overjoyed, as today would be the day a statue of the founder would have its grand opening. Their founder had apparently been a very wealthy person, and wanted nothing more than his city to thrive. In fact, they all had gone to attend the unveiling of the statue.

"Attention citizens!" the mayor of the town said. He was an elderly Toad, with a beard and a cane. The citizens had gathered outside, curious to what was going on.

"After a few years, we have finally completed the statue of our founder. It was hard work, but we finally managed to do it. So, without further ado, let the unveiling begin!"

Two Koopas unveiled the statue, revealing the statue. The founder of the town as it turns out, was an elderly Goomba, who coincidentally, resembled Professor Frankly, the one who was reading the story.

_Back to Professor Frankly and the others…_

"Wow!" said the Boo. "Old Rogueport sounds like a great place to live! I wish I could live there!" said the Boo.

"Yes, unfortunately this wasn't to last, however…" said Professor Frankly.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked the Koopa.

"Well…it all started in a particularly cheerful day at Old Rogueport…the sun was shining, the birds were singing, things like that. It seemed like nothing would go wrong with the day…indeed, it was quite a decent day…until she came."

"She came?"" asked the Shy Guy.

"Yes…let me explain shall we?"

_At Old Rogueport…on the Day of Shadow…._

"Nice weather we're having today, huh?" said a Shy Guy.

"Yep, we're having nice weather today." agreed a Bandit. "It seems like nothing can go wrong…"

Suddenly the sky turned dark, as if something evil was near.

"Huh? It was daytime just a minute ago…" asked a Toad.

Suddenly the ground started shaking, shaking very hard.

"What's going on?" said a Koopa.

It was then that suddenly the Shadow Queen appeared out of nowhere. Nobody knew who she was, but the minute they saw her, they immediately felt frightened, frightened to the point where their teeth were chattering and they were sweating nonstop.

"Hello, citizens of this insignificant town…today's the day everything shall change for you…I have come to seize this town to myself. Do not try to stop me…you shall regret it most dearly. So…do you wish to join me and become my servant? Or do you wish to simply watch me destroy all that you hold dear?" the Shadow Queen asked the town.

Almost immediately a Koopa that was very brave went up to the Shadow Queen, and threw a rock at her head. Obviously, this wasn't a very good idea.

The Shadow Queen turned to the Koopa, and glared at him so fiercely that he immediately passed out. The Shadow Queen then started whispering her spell, and suddenly the Koopa transformed into a Dry Bones, which immediately went up to the Shadow Queen's side.

"Is there anyone else that wishes to oppose me?" Nobody answered.

"Good." With that, lightning shot out of the sky, destroying everything. The town slowly sank through the ground, wrecking everything in the process.

"Stop! You can't do this!" demanded the mayor.

"So, you're the one who is in charge of this sickeningly good town, are you not? I'm afraid your reign has come to its end…" the Shadow Queen coldly responded.

"Please! I'll do anything!" the Shadow Queen simply ignored him, and continued chanting the spell.

Eventually the entire town was destroyed, with nothing left in its wake. Today was the end of the town….and nothing remained of its existence.

_Back to Professor Frankly and the others once again…_

"That…was scary." The Goomba shivered.

All of the children were frightened at what had happened to Old Rogueport, and rightfully so. The Shadow Queen had destroyed everything without any regret or remorse whatsoever.

"Rest assured, things will get better in the end. But for now we shall go into detail of the Shadow Queen herself….as well as the various creatures and artifacts she created."

The children gulped.

_The Shadow Queen sure is scary, huh? Like Professor Frankly said, we shall be getting into detail shortly….but that's for the next chapter! R&R, if you please!_


	2. Chapter 2: The Shadow Queen

The Crystal Stars

**Chapter 2: The Shadow Queen**

"Nobody knows where exactly the Shadow Queen came from. All we know is that she came without warning..." explained Professor Frankly.

"Golly." said a Toad.

"How frightful!" exclaimed a Koopa.

"Anyways, not long after she took over Old Rogueport, she sank it into the ground, apparently finding the dark depths below more satisfying for her evil hideout. She then went around doing to many places what she did to Old Rogueport. She went around turning more and more people into her minions, and eventually everyone around was frightened of her to the extent that they never even mentioned her name."

"Speaking of her evil hideout, using part of the first town she had destroyed, she converted it into an evil castle, where she and the strongest of her evil minions would reside. The castle does in fact still exist after all these years, but I wouldn't ever recommend visiting it, it's still filled with dark creatures and other horrible things."

"The Palace of Shadow was, or should I say is a horrible place really. Whenever one of The Shadow Queen's minions stole something, they would take it to the castle, causing it to grow rich through all the stolen treasure. Suffice to say, if the Shadow Queen ever wanted to hire a mercenary, she could hire many, many, many of them."

"But she was not quite satisfied by this, and she decided to find a way to already increase her already vast power. And that's when she created the Crystal Stars."

_At the Palace of Shadow, approximately 1000 years ago..._

"Things are going perfectly." the Shadow Queen laughed. The residents of Rogueport had not even put up much of a fight. Apparently they were deathly afraid of her, as she wanted from them.

"You asked for me, mistress?" a Dry Bones asked.

"Yes...how is the construction of the castle going?" she asked.

"It's just about finished, actually." answered a Wizzerd.

"Excellent." The Shadow Queen replied.

"So what do you wish us to do next?" questioned a Boo.

"To create something with which I could use to increase my already vast power and allow me to completely cover this world in darkness..." the Shadow Queen told the Boo.

"We'll get to work on that." With that, The Shadow Queen's minions left to go to work.

_Back to our friend Professor Frankly..._

"And went to work the Shadow Queen's minions did. Using arcane magic, they created seven mystical artifacts..."

"First of all, there was the Diamond Star. It allowed whoever owned it to attack using massive tremors and earthquakes. Suffice to say, whoever had the Diamond Star would be able to use the power of the earth itself."

"Second, there was the Emerald Star, which allowed its user to control time, freezing their enemies and allowed its user to freely attack them without having to worry about them fighting back. It was also somewhat of a double-edged sword, as if the user wasn't careful they would end up freezing themselves instead."

"Third, there was the Gold Star, which would allow the user to greatly increase both their offensive capabilities and their defensive capabilities, depending on what the user desired."

"Fourth, there was the Ruby Star, which would allow the user to attack their opponents simply by drawing on them, which could do a lot of damage if the user was skilled enough at drawing around their enemies."

"Fifth, there was the Sapphire Star, which would allow the user to heal themselves in vast amounts, making it useful if the enemies they were facing were particularly powerful."

"Sixth, there was the Garnet Star, which would allow the user to instantly defeat their foes, although it would not work if the foe in question they were fighting was powerful enough."

"Last but not least, there was the Crystal Star. Yes, it was named after the very series of artifacts it was part of. Why it was named that way was beyond me. Anyways, it was possibly the most powerful of the seven, as it allowed the user to use a very devastating attack that could completely obliterate their enemies."

"Yikes, they sure sound powerful." complimented the Boo.

"They certainly were. The Shadow Queen said that if they didn't meet to her expectations, their creators would all experience her wrath. And such their creators worked on making them as powerful as possible. In essence, the Crystal Stars all had the power of the heavens."

"Not long after they were actually created though, The Shadow Queen started to worry about these particular artifacts. What if someone took the Crystal Stars and decided to use them against her? If someone did that, the Shadow Queen would very well be in big trouble. So she had her minions all hide them away, where they would be heavily guarded by particularly powerful members of the Shadow Queen's army."

_At the Shadow Palace 1000 years ago..._

"Alright, here's what I want you do minions. I want you to find the safest places as possible for you to hide these Crystal Stars. I shall later instruct who to actually guard them, but for now I cannot allow them to fall in the wrong hands." the Shadow Queen ordered her minions.

"Yes, mistress!" the minions went.

And so the minions went to find the perfect hiding places for the Crystal Stars. Eventually, they came across seven particular places where they would be safe.

One of them was placed in an abandoned castle...

Another was placed in a dark, spooky forest...

One was placed high up in the sky...

One was placed in a scary temple that had fallen into disrepair...

One was placed at the bottom of the ocean...

One was placed at a formerly luxurious city now overrun by the Queen's minions (the minions thought finding it in there would be like finding a needle in a haystack)...

And one was placed all the way in outer space...

_Once again, back to Professor Frankly..._

"Now then...in this chapter, we'll focus on the countermeasures the Shadow Queen took to make sure nobody would be able to oppose her."

"There were people trying to oppose her?" asked a Shy Guy.

"Yes...apparently some people thought they would be heroes if they put an end to what she was up to..."

"OK then." replied a Bandit.

_Are you enjoying the story so far? Sorry about the long lack of update (or if you felt like it was a long lack of update anyway...) So until next time!_


	3. Chapter 3: The Pit of 100 Trials

The Crystal Stars

**Chapter 3: The Pit of 100 Trials**

Once again, Professor Frankly continued to tell the story to his young audience.

"Now, as I said before, there were a few people that wanted to take down the Shadow Queen. While most were simply terrified of her and didn't want anything to do with her, others wanted to bring her to justice for the countless people she had tortured and the millions of games she had ended. Unfortunately, she was more than aware of what was going on, and she started taking actions to prevent any sort of resistance being formed, or at the very least weaken her enemies to the point where they would no longer pose a threat to the Shadow Queen and her army of darkness."

"She started out by creating three ferocious dragons, which were known as Hooktail, Gloomtail, and Bonetail respectively. They were ordered to hunt down anyone who wished to destroy the Shadow Queen and put an end to their reign of terror. And indeed they did. Many people that tried to form a resistance suddenly found themselves attacked and eaten by one of the three dragons. They continued patrolling the skies, looking for any that posed a threat to the queen."

"Do these monsters still live today?" a Boo asked.

"No, thankfully. Just as the Shadow Queen is no longer with us, so too are her deadly dragons, so don't worry about suddenly being attacked and eaten by her foul creatures. They were all defeated by a plumber you may all know along with his companions, but that's a story that took place 1000 years later, so we won't cover that story until after we're finished with this one."

"I see." replied a Bandit.

"However, even with the immensely decreasing morale of the people who despised the Shadow Queen, there were still several people recruiting opposition to her, and so she created a truly fearsome and enormous dungeon where her enemies would be imprisoned inside and slain by powerful monsters that worked for her."

"It was known as The Pit of 100 Trials."

_Rogueport….1000 years ago…._

"How is the construction of the Pit of 100 Trials going?" The Shadow Queen asked her servant.

"Very well, your majesty. Your minions are already working on it as we speak. It should be finished soon." An Elite Wizzerd told her. The Shadow Queen smiled with satisfaction.

"Excellent. You can leave now." The queen of darkness told her minion. And so the Elite Wizzerd left.

The Shadow Queen sat back on her throne, thinking about the apparent absurdity of the situation. "To think that people could actually think that there would be anything they could do to stop me. They must be asking to have their games ended." she said to herself.

She checked to see how her three dragons were doing via a crystal ball. They had just finished eating various people that were suspected of having ties with the adversaries of their creator. She once again smiled with satisfaction.

"No matter. At this rate, there will be nobody left to oppose me, and all shall submit to my rule once and for all." The Shadow Queen let out an evil laugh that echoed throughout her palace.

Things did not look good for the world.

_Back to Professor Frankly…_

"So, any questions?" Professor Frankly asked his audience.

"Gosh, the Pit of 100 Trials sure sounds scary." a Goomba commented.

"Indeed it was. And unfortunately it still exists today, albeit deep inside our sewer system. The Shadow Queen apparently thought it was too dangerous for anyone to adventure in and come back in one piece, as she hid some of her most valuable treasure inside of it. I've heard recently of people becoming lost in the dungeon and being attacked myself. Anyone else?"

"So, if there was nobody at all to stop the Shadow Queen, how is the Mushroom Kingdom in such a good state today?" asked a Boo.

"That's a very good question. You see, as it turns out, there were four destined people that would ultimately put an end to the Shadow Queen's reign of terror. They too are no longer among us, but nonetheless their heroics stand out today, just as the Shadow Queen is still remembered as a horrible entity of pure evil."

"One of them was a Toad with a cricket-like voice, who lived in what is now known as Petalburg Village…."

_I bet you're probably looking forward to something more cheery after all the grim stuff I've written about the Shadow Queen, aren't you? Well not to worry! We'll be getting to something more pleasant shortly. So just hang in there until then!_


	4. Chapter 4: The Toad

The Crystal Stars

_In this chapter, we'll learn about one of the heroes that you may know as one of the demons that was trapped inside that black treasure chest if you've played Mario: The Thousand Year Door._

**Chapter 4: The Toad**

"So, let me tell you about this Toad. For one thing, he was frequently made fun of by the other Toads…mainly due to the fact that he had a really squeaky voice." stated Prof. Frankly.

"Sorry to hear that." sympathized a young Toad.

"Basically put, none of the villagers ever really treated him with respect, until one day that changed everything for the village…"

_Petalburg…1000 years ago…_

"Hey look, it's Squeaky!" taunted one Toad.

"Hey Shroomo! You sound just like a mouse!" taunted another Toad.

"Yeah yeah I know." Shroomo rolled his eyes.

It seemed like every day went like that. For some reason, none of the other citizens could resist making fun of him simply because of his voice. He wanted nothing more for people to stop making fun of it. It was really annoying, and yet people wouldn't stop doing it.

Personally, he wondered what was so funny about it. It wasn't like he had asked to have such a squeaky voice, he was born with it. Nonetheless, it was considered a riot among the other Toads. It was giving him quite a headache.

Anyways, he had no idea that something was big was happening but it was. By now, everybody had heard about the Shadow Queen and her minions, but she was still regarded as a myth among Petalburg, as she had yet to take action in Petal Meadows.

That was, until particular today.

The citizens of the town were relaxing, minding their own business.

Suddenly, one of the Koopas noticed that there was something in the sky.

"It's a bird!" exclaimed a Koopa.

"No! It's a plane!" exclaimed another Toad.

"Planes don't exist right now!" pointed out another Koopa.

"Oh, right." realized that same Toad.

The flying object got closer…and they realized what it was.

"IT'S ONE OF THE SHADOW QUEEN'S DRAGONS!" screamed a Toad.

"AAH!" the populace all screamed.

"That's right my little meals on wheels…now let's see here…so many of you look like you'll be appetizing…I know I'll start with you!" the dragon stated, picking up a Toad and eating him alive.

"NOOO!" the other Toads screamed.

As it turns out, this particular dragon was Hooktail, the youngest of the dragons. While she was significantly weaker than her other siblings, she was still quite a menace, capable of breathing fire and swallowing people whole, both of which she intended to do right at that particular moment.

As the citizens of the town panicked and futilely tried to outrun the dragon, Shroomo noticed what was going on. The more he saw the people panicking as various buildings around town was set on fire and the more he saw people being eaten by Hooktail, the more he thought something should be done about the Shadow Queen and her minions.

He had heard about the horrendous acts she had committed recently, and suddenly fighting spirit starting flowing inside of him.

"HEY YOU!" he screamed.

Hooktail immediately turned towards him. Due to his squeaky voice, she thought he was a cricket. "Oh, what's this? You're hardly a morsel…seeing though you're so small …but no matter! Maybe you'll do well as a light snack." she said.

And so she ate him too.

_Back to Professor Frankly and his audience…_

"Wait a minute!" one of the Toads exclaimed. "I thought you said he was one of the heroes that took down the Shadow Queen! How can be simply be another victim of Hooktail?"

"Yeah! This is really confusing!" agreed a young Koopa.

"I was getting to that part! Now be quiet while I continue reading the story!" exclaimed Professor Frankly.

_Back to the story…_

For a moment, Shroomo (along with his fellow citizens who were watching) thought he was done for.

He slowly went towards Hooktail's digestive system…where he would become food for the ferocious dragon.

But he refused to meet a fate like this…not while other people were in danger.

Angry, Shroomo started punching Hooktail's stomach.

As Hooktail was laughing as she continued causing havoc among the innocent citizens of Petalburg, she suddenly started to feel queasy.

"What's going on? I feel sick?" she thought.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, she suddenly started spitting out the villagers.

"AARGH! NO!" she exclaimed.

She kept on spitting them out and out, up until the point where every villager that had been eaten by Hooktail was freed.

This naturally included Shroomo, who was spat out of Hooktail last.

This naturally made Hooktail extremely angry, who snarled at Shroomo in rage.

"AARGH! CURSE YOU, INSIGNIFICANT INSECT! But no matter, this is a merely a minor setback in my mistress's plan. You won't be able to defeat the Shadow Queen alone, I can tell you that! She has an entire army of minions at her disposal! I don't care if you think you're a one-man army, you'll never be able to stop her!" With a satisfied grin on her face now that she had finished her speech revealing the unfortunate truth to Shroomo, she flew away towards her castle, waiting her mistress' next command.

Suddenly, the Toads and Koopas (particularly the ones that had been eaten by Hooktail) stopped making fun of Shroomo. Instead, they congratulated on him for saving them all from that dragon.

"Yay!" squealed a Toad.

"Hip hip hooray!" screeched another Toad.

"Hooray for Shroomo!" yelled a Koopa.

Suffice to say, there was no end to the gratitude that Shroomo received.

But one thing made him unhappy about what had happened. Was it true about Hooktail had said to him? If what she said was true, Shroomo would need some allies to assist him in defeating the Shadow Queen.

But who would be able to assist him? As far as he knew, nobody wanted to fight the Shadow Queen, even with some allies assisting him. The fact that she was a nearly omnipotent being of darkness made hope a very scarce thing to find.

"Um, guys, I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave." Shroomo told the other citizens with a frown on his face.

"But why? We're not making fun of you anymore!" exclaimed a Toad.

"Yeah! You're our hero now!" exclaimed another Koopa.

"Yes well, I'm afraid that I'm going to need to find other people in order to defeat the Shadow Queen. I don't think I can do it alone." Shroomo explained.

"Are you nuts? The Shadow Queen will pulverize you!" warned a Toad.

"Yeah well, something has to be done about her. She's a threat to virtually all of the Mushroom Kingdom. I know you guys will miss me, but I have to leave home in order to put an end to her age of darkness. I'm not sure if I'll come back, but rest assured, I'll do my best to stop the Shadow Queen."

After parting ways with the other citizens of Petalburg, Shroomo left home to find a way to defeat the Shadow Queen, as well as find allies that were willing to assist him in this difficult task.

_To Professor Frankly and his audience once again…_

"Didn't you say that there were other heroes besides the Toad?" a young Boo asked.

"Why yes they were. I'll tell you about the second one now…she was a Goomba…one that lived in Boggly Woods…"

_And so this chapter ends with Shroomo defending his home from an evil dragon…in the next chapter, we'll learn about another one of the heroes that helped put an end to the Shadow Queen…_


	5. Chapter 5: The Goomba

The Crystal Stars

_In this chapter, we'll learn about another one of the heroes…as before said person was locked inside a black chest…and would curse anyone that tried to open said chest…of course it wasn't exactly much of a curse though, was it?_

**Chapter 5: The Goomba**

"Let me tell you about the Goomba that was one of the four heroes, shall we? Anyways, she was quite a wise Goomba, and the one who suggested that the Punis use the largest tree in Boggly Woods as a shelter against the many creatures that would want to devour him. In fact, that particular tree is still in use by the Punis today." Professor Frankly explained.

"That sounds interesting." one of the Shy Guys stated.

"Anyways, I suppose that you'll want to hear about this story as well, won't you? Let me begin…" Professor Frankly explained.

_The Shadow Palace, 1000 years ago…_

"So let me get this straight, Hooktail was defeated by a young Toad when she tried to devour an entire village?" The Shadow Queen asked her Bob-Ulk minion incredulously.

"It's true BA-BOOM! Hooktail went over to devour an entire village and then KA-BOOM! One of the Toads she ate forced her to spit them all out and KA-BLAM! She was forced to retreat." the Bob-Ulk explained.

"I'll have to punish her for that horrendous incident later…but for now, how is our plan for world conquest going?" the Shadow Queen asked him.

"Pretty well, right now we're planning to invade a forest KA-BOOM…it's filled with tiny insects that should be easy for our troops to squash BA-BOOM!" the Bob-Ulk explained.

"I see…let's see now, what would be the best way to terrify those tiny insects? I know, send Arachnia and her Pider minions over to invade that insignificant patch of trees, will you? I'm sure they'll surrender within minutes…of course of that fails we could simply burn it to the ground." The Shadow Queen ordered him.

"Yes KA-BOOM!" the Bob-Ulk replied, going over to inform the giant Arantula of her mistress's demands.

_The next day…in the Boggly Woods…_

A Goomba was busy meditating, trying to take in everything around her.

"This place is so relaxing, I'd hate to ever leave." the Goomba thought.

She had been welcomed by the Punis ever since she decided to come here. She had introduced herself as Juniper, and that she came here simply so that she could find a place to relax.

She was quite the intelligent Goomba, who came up with many solutions whenever one of the Punis had a problem, such as when they had difficulty reaching fruit from the trees due to their lack of height.

Overall, she enjoyed spending time in the Boggly Woods, and was glad that tragedy had not approached it as with many other places in the world ever since the queen of darkness had arrived.

Suddenly, several of the Punis came over to Juniper.

"We're under attack!" one of the Punis exclaimed.

"What?" the Goomba exclaimed.

"Piders are everywhere! They're eating every Puni they can ensnare in their webs! Worst all, they're being led by a giant Arantula!" exclaimed another one of the Punis.

"A giant Arantula? This must be the queen's doing." replied Juniper.

"I'm afraid so! I suggest that we all flee for the hills!" yet another one of the Puni screamed.

"Calm down, I'm sure that there's something we can do all of this." explained the wise Goomba.

"Like…what?" inquired a curious Puni.

"Well, during my long research of the Boggly Woods, I uncovered quite a bit of information about those horrible creatures. For one thing, I heard that they are not particularly fond of sunlight. I suspect they came here through an opening underground." Juniper explained.

"So what do we do? There isn't any sunlight in this forest at all!" one of the Punis exclaimed.

"I suggest we attempt to lure the Piders out of the forest…that way they'll be exposed to sunlight and will therefore be far less dangerous…" suggested Juniper.

The Punis did as they asked, and it worked surprisingly well. No sooner had the Piders been lured out of the forest than they started screaming in pain.

"What is wrong?" asked Arachnia, to one of the injured Piders as he ran back into the forest.

"The sunlight! It burns!" exclaimed the half-blind Pider.

"Someone must have told them about our weakness to light…" Arachnia thought. "No matter…look for any survivors that are still inside of the forest!"

The Piders did as asked, and unfortunately it seemed like the Punis were still in dire straits.

Until once again Juniper pointed out another thing they could do, seal off the holes the Piders had used to get inside the forest so that none of them could get inside.

The Punis once again did as Juniper asked, sealing the Piders off from the others by sealing said holes.

Juniper also instructed the Punis to start defending themselves, such as dropping heavy fruit and gnawing through the branches in order to crush the Piders.

Once again, Juniper's brainpower saved the day, as the various arachnids started losing many of their numbers due to the Punis' efforts.

Eventually, the Piders realized that they were losing the battle, and that they weren't getting any reinforcements.

"What is it now?" asked Arachnia.

"There's only a few of us left! There are not enough of us to overtake the forest!" warned one of the Piders.

"My boss is going to kill me for this…my children, retreat!" ordered Arachnia.

The Piders did as they were asked, as Arachnia dug another hole they could use to return to the Palace of Shadow.

"I'm going to get whoever assisted the Punis for this…" Arachnia vowed as her Piders retreated.

Afterwards, the Punis thanked Juniper for all their help, and asked if there was anything they could do for her in return.

Juniper suggested that they start using the trees as shelter in case the Piders or some other creature of the night came back to haunt them.

The Punis did as they were asked, eventually deciding that the largest tree in the forest would be the best way of protecting themselves.

Overall, the Boggly Woods had become a far better place thanks to Juniper's quick thinking.

_Back to our junior audience…_

"Whoa! That is one smart Goomba!" exclaimed one of the Koopas.

"Yes, in fact, I think that she just might be the ancestor of my student Goombella…can't say for sure though." responded Professor Frankly.

"So, are you going to tell us about the next hero?" asked one of the Goombas.

"Yes my dear listener. Now this particular hero's story is interesting…mainly due to the fact that it rapidly became intertwined with another hero…but anyways, I'll tell you about him in just a minute, after I drink my coffee." Professor Frankly explained to the Goomba.

_Well, this chapter was interesting…to think that even the most horrifying creatures can be defeated through the simplest of methods…_

_In the next chapter, we'll learn about the Koopa…and I'll make up another character that's part of the Shadow Queen's army…_


	6. Chapter 6: The Koopa

The Crystal Stars

_As you can see, I seem to have gotten lazy as of late and I haven't updated in a whole month…but let's not talk too much about that, shall we?_

_In this chapter, we'll learn about our third hero…which suffice to say leaves only the fourth hero to cover…hope you enjoy…and hopefully the illness I've gotten as of late will go away soon…it really stinks._

**Chapter 6: The Koopa**

"You said you were going to teach us about all the heroes, didn't you?" asked one of the Goombas.

"Ah yes…let me teach you about our third hero shall we? He's a particularly interesting example of one…apparently he was a drifter, and had been fighting the Shadow Queen long before the others had been doing so…naturally she found him as a large priority to exterminate…" Professor Frankly explained.

_A local village, 1000 years ago._

"This is too easy." thought Koop as he kicked a Dark Koopa's shell towards another one.

"Aargh!" the two evildoers screamed as they were sent flying. Suffice to say this tactic would be later used by an Italian plumber off to rescue his beloved…but naturally that's a story you're all aware of.

"I don't see why people are afraid of the dark lord…most if not all of her minions are a bunch of weaklings…then again perhaps they're a bunch of weaklings as well." pondered our third hero.

Naturally, he wasn't aware of the fact that some of the Shadow Queen's minions were far more dangerous than others…and who he had been dealing with were basically her standard foot soldiers.

Suffice to say; he received eternal gratitude from the various Toads he had rescued from the clutches of darkness…which he was more than used to at that particular point considering this was far from the first time he had done something heroic.

'Yes, I understand, you're all eternally grateful for what I've done. Now if you excuse me, I've got more people to save." answered Koop, who started walking away before anyone attempted to ask him for his autograph.

As he left, he wondered why the Shadow Queen herself hadn't decided to take action against him yet despite everything he had been doing…it certainly caused him to scratch his head…

_Cut to Professor Frankly…_

"Anyways, due to the fact that the Koopa was constantly travelling, it is difficult to determine where he originally was when the outbreak started, but I know one thing, he was already making another Koopa peel his hair out…assuming of course he had hair…"

_Outside of the Palace of the Shadow, 1000 years ago…_

General Koopilus snarled in rage as he learned about what his archnemesis had been up to as of late. He had sent countless members of the Shadow Queen's army to dispose of him time and time again, but so far nothing had worked.

Suffice to say this had made his short-tempered mistress quite angry at him, and she threatened to punish him badly if he could not get the hero under control or otherwise prevent him from foiling her evil plans.

"I must stop him before anything else happens." thought the dark general, who began plotting against the Koopa that had been a thorn in his side for far too long.

Suddenly, he thought of an idea that would hopefully put him in his place…an idea that would finally dispose of the verminous turtle once and for all.

"Yes, the Shadow Queen will be very pleased once I tell her about the little trap I've contacted for that meddlesome Koopa…perhaps she'll even promote me to be her right-hand…" grinned General Koopilus.

Suffice to say, our hero would be in a huge amount of trouble in the near future.

_Back to our younger audience…_

"So are we done reading about the heroes?" inquired one of the young Toads.

"Not quite, we still have one hero left to talk about." contradicted the professor.

"Aww…" the junior audience complained.

"Don't be disheartened however. You see, the fourth hero was an even more interesting case than the Koopa…according to this book, she used to be part of the Shadow Queen's army…"

"What?" the junior audience exclaimed.

"Yes, that's right, she was originally part of the pure evil queen of darkness's army of destruction, in fact, if it weren't for our third hero, she might have still been working for her." Informed the elderly Goomba.

"You've got to be kidding." murmured a young Bandit.

"Wait, what do you exactly mean by that?" inquired a young Boo.

"Well you see, the third hero was the one who convinced her to quit working for the Shadow Queen, but that's a story I will tell you tomorrow."

_As you can see, it seems like I've been neglecting this story for too long…but I'll see what I can do to make up for it._

_In the meantime, try to stay with me here, will you?_


	7. Chapter 7: The Boo

The Crystal Stars

_In this chapter, we'll meet our final hero…who we know as a Boo who decided to leave the Shadow Queen's side…in this chapter, we'll learn how she saved our hero the Koopa…_

**Chapter 7: The Boo**

"You're going to tell us about the fourth hero, am I right?" asked one of the Crazee Dayzees.

"Yes, I'm going to tell you about the last hero. This hero is particularly interesting, prior to becoming one of the heroes that would vanquish the Shadow Queen, she used to be part of her army." explained Professor Frankly.

"She was? I don't believe it!" exclaimed one of the Boos.

"It was a good thing she ultimately saw the light…anyways, where was I? Like I said the Koopa drifter was awfully strong, but unfortunately he wasn't invincible." continued Professor Frankly.

"He wasn't?" inquired one of the Koopas.

"Unfortunately his archenemy grew wise to his tactics…and decided to set a trap for him that would bring him to his knees." answered Professor Frankly sadly.

_At a local village…1000 years ago…_

"Help us Koopa! The Shadow Queen is invading our village!" bellowed a Boo.

"Don't worry missus, I'll make sure to stop the Shadow Queen…she's hurt enough innocent people already." replied Koop.

And so Koop agreed to protect the Boo's village, unaware of what he was getting himself into.

"Oh Shadow Queen's minions? Where are you?" thought Koop.

Immediately, the Boo pointed towards a house…that curiously was not well-lit.

But Koop paid no heed to this, and decided to go inside the house anyway.

Immediately, Koop was attacked by many of The Shadow Queen's minions (who unfortunately could see quite well in the dark). Koop tried to hold them off, but there were simply too many. And to make matters worse the Boo had locked the door behind him, meaning he was trapped.

"Ouch! Oof! Ow! Eek!" screamed Koop as he was beaten to a pulp.

Suffice to say, our hero ended up experiencing unconsciousness from the many bruises and beatings, and he found himself waking up hours later to find that he was tied to a mine cart.

"Where am I?" Koop wondered.

"Greetings Koop! It's so nice of us to finally get to meet again!" General Koopilus taunted.

"Koopilus? What are you doing here?" Koop asked.

"Let's just say that I've been looking forward to this for a long time. As you can see, I couldn't simply end your game in an ordinary way after everything you've done to me…which is why I've decided to set this spectacular death trap for you." the eyepatched Koopa continued.

Koop looked around him, and saw that the death trap split off into four different paths, one was heading straight towards the bottom of the ocean, another was heading towards a river of lava, yet another path was heading towards a lake of acid, and finally one lead to an enormous pit. Suffice to say, all of them would be lethal regardless of whichever path the ever-changing cart ride would go.

"You won't get away with this, Koopilus!" screeched Koop, who began trying to undo his restraints.

"I'm pretty sure I will once there's no one left to stop me. In fact, considering the bounty The Shadow Queen has placed on your head as of late, I think I'm actually going to be rewarded!" laughed the wicked general.

"How'd this happen to me anyway? Last thing I remember was that I was sent by a Boo to rescue those villagers from the forces of darkness." remembered Koop.

"Aren't you slow to catch on…don't you get it? That village was abandoned! You were duped! That Boo was a spy!" laughed his adversary.

Suddenly, said Boo came into the room.

"Ah there you are! Say hi to the idiot, will you?" taunted the Koopa.

"Why did you betray me?" yelled the Koopa.

"Simple. What else is a Boo than a ghost, a type of undead meant to serve the Shadow Queen? Surely you of all people would know that…" the treasonous Boo explained.

"Now then, just to make sure that Koop ends up getting what was coming towards him, you keep an eye on him, OK?" ordered the evil Koopa.

"Whatever you say." agreed the traitor.

General Koopilus activated the deathtrap using a nearby lever, leaving Koop to his fate.

"Please! Help me! You don't have to do this! Just because you're a ghost doesn't mean you have to be evil!" demanded Koop as he went on a one-way trip to the afterlife.

"You know, I never thought about it that way." pondered the Boo.

The mine cart continued towards its deadly destination.

"Surely you don't want the Shadow Queen to take over the world, do you?" pointed out Koop.

"Well yes, but I don't think there's anything anybody can do about her…"

The mine cart was getting dangerously close to the enormous pit that would send Koop tumbling to his doom.

"Surely you recall me and my exploits against the Shadow Queen, don't you? If we work together, we'd have a better chance of stopping her!" exclaimed the heroic Koopa.

This caused the Boo to continue pondering her alliance with the Shadow Queen…

…and eventually, she decided to save Koop at the last minute from his predicament.

"Yes! Thank you thank you thank you!" squealed the turtle with glee.

"Mm-hmm…but like I said, there's not much we can do about the queen of darkness. Unless…" thought the Boo.

"Unless what?" Koop questioned the Boo.

"Unless we somehow manage to find others that will assist us in our cause. Granted, it's not like we'll be able to succeed in doing so…but anyways, I suggest we try that next." explained the Boo.

"What is your name, anyway?" inquired Koop.

"Oh my name? It's…Terra." the formerly evil Boo answered.

_End of history lesson…_

"So now that you've told us about the four heroes, what are you going to tell us about next?" asked a curious Goomba.

"Well next I'm going to tell you about how our heroes all got together…for now, I'll tell you about how the Toad and Goomba met…"

_Seeing though my spring break is almost over…I decided I might as well get this out of the way…_

_In the next chapter, our Toad and Goomba hero will team up to fight the forces of darkness!_


	8. Chapter 8: Forming A Party

The Crystal Stars

_In this chapter, our heroes will start getting together…specificially, our heroes the Toad and the Goomba. Let's see how what they can do while they're together, shall we?_

**Chapter 8: Forming A Group**

"Now then. I believe I already told you about our four heroes, did I not?" Professor Frankly explained.

"Yes, you did." answered one of the Goombas.

"Well then, I suppose it's time I told you about how our heroes started getting together...after all, I don't believe one can defeat the Shadow Queen on their own, can they not?" pointed out Professor Frankly.

"Probably not." agreed one of the Toads.

_Boggly Woods…1000 years ago…_

Shroomo had heard recently that Boggly Woods had come under attack by a group of Piders, and had decided to investigate.

Much to his surprise, there wasn't any Piders in sight when he got there.

"What happened?" wondered Shroomo.

He decided to look around and see if he could find anything suspicious. Sure enough he saw what appeared to be an insect of some kind.

"Please don't hurt me!" the Puni demanded.

Shroomo jumped in surprise. Apparently these insects were somehow capable of speech.

"What makes you think I'm going to do that?"

The Puni explained about the nightmarish attack on Boggly Woods not too long ago, and how a brave Goomba managed to save the day. Unfortunately, the leader of the Piders was still out there somewhere.

"That doesn't sound good." agreed Shroomo. "Can you take me to her?"

"Please don't hurt her! She's our hero!" exclaimed the Puni.

"Relax, I won't. I don't even have any weapons." agreed our heroic Toad.

The Puni sighed. "I suppose I'll trust you…partly because your voice sounds like that of an insect."

"Ah yes, a lot of people tell me that." agreed Shroomo.

The Puni directed the heroic Toad towards the elderly Goomba. As it turns out, she was currently explaining to the Punis what they should do if they were attacked. Of course, she had already given them advice previously, but it never hurt to make sure they memorized it.

"Excuse me?" asked Shroomo.

"Yes?" Juniper inquired.

"I heard that you saved all these Punis from that horrible Pider attack, did you not?" Shroomo asked.

"Yes I did, why?" answered Juniper.

"Well I just wanted to congratulate you. For a moment I thought I was probably the only one actually trying to put an end to the Shadow Queen's evil plans. Something tells me that if she isn't stopped she's going to make the entire world miserable for everyone." explained Shroomo.

"Oh. Well that's awfully nice of you. And I agree with you about The Shadow Queen…nobody will ever truly be safe while she's still around…" agreed Juniper.

Suddenly, they heard what appeared to be the sound of a weapon being loaded.

"Oh snap!" screamed Juniper.

"Run for it!" screeched Shroomo.

Shroomo and Juniper jumped out of the way, just as the arrow landed right on the tree truck where Juniper was standing previously.

"What's going on here?" inquired Shroomo.

"Hmph, I was hoping I'd be able to hit that Goomba and deal with her once and for all…but at least now I'll be able to dispose of two of the so-called heroes that insist on defying her royal highness…" murmured the mysterious assassin.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Juniper demanded.

"What does it matter? You're all going to be in the Underwhere in a few minutes anyway…but I suppose if you must know…my name is Ajnin…and I'm going to be your executioner…" explained the assassin.

Our two heroes took a look at him, and noticed that he appeared to be a Shy Guy dressed in black and with a red mask…a mask that eerily resembled a skull.

"Why did the Shadow Queen send you to kill us? Surely there are other heroes that are trying to stop the queen of darkness as well?" inquired Shroomo.

"Funny you should mention that." replied Ajnin. "You see, what particularly infuriated the Shadow Queen was that you had rallied so many people to fight against her majesty. Already there are a bunch of villagers and Punis that are attacking any evil minion in sight."

"Did I already encourage that many people?" thought Shroomo.

"Anyways, it's become necessary to make sure that they realize the futility of being a hero and what awaits those that oppose the Shadow Queen. It's not anything personal, I'm just doing my job." Ajnin explained, pulling out a knife.

After those words were over, the Shadow Queen's assassin lunged.

Thankfully, Shroomo reacted quickly and dodged the knife, then punched Ajnin in the face.

"Ergh, I have to admit you got lucky that time…but don't expect that to happen again."

Our heroes continued trying to fight the ninja, but unfortunately he was rather quick. Whenever our heroes tried to attack him, all they got was a cut to the face.

"Aaugh!" screamed Juniper.

"Ergh!" yelled Shroomo.

The fight raged on and on with Ajnin still having the upper hand, and eventually Shroomo and Juniper became exhausted.

Ajnin laughed evilly.

"Surely you've realized the futility of fighting back by now? I swear, I could probably do this all day and still win. Of course then again I suppose I would enjoy a challenge for a change considering how many I've killed…" Ajnin taunted.

Suddenly, a group of Punis attacked the wicked Shy Guy. Apparently they didn't want him to hurt the elderly Goomba or her new companion.

"Get off me!" demanded Ajnin.

The Punis continued attacking him. While the Shy Guy ninja tried to shake the Punis off, more and more of them kept on attacking. Eventually, he realized that he was outnumbered.

"I see that you've decided not to fight me fairly…you'd think heroes like you would use more honorable tactics…but I suppose that's your main strength…no matter…I'll be seeing you again when you're in a more vulnerable position…"

Suddenly, Ajnin threw a smoke bomb, which suffice to say allowed him to make a getaway.

"Where'd he go?" asked the Puni.

"It looks like we managed to get rid of him." cheered Shroomo.

"Yes…but I don't think we've seen the last of him. We need to get others in case we cross paths again." pointed out Juniper.

"I suppose you're right. But where are we going to find others?" questioned the Toad.

Reluctantly, Juniper proceeded to tell her goodbyes to the Punis.

"Don't go! We'll miss you!" exclaimed the Punis.

Juniper told them they should be safe by themselves after everything she had taught them, and that she needed to find others if she was going to fight the Shadow Queen.

"But what about you? Will you be safe?" asked one of the Punis.

"Relax, I'll make sure nothing happens to her." answered Shroomo.

And so the two heroes left the Boggly Woods to look for others to help them…

_Back to the present…_

"Suffice to say, our heroes would encounter the Koopa and the Boo after this event…but I suppose I'll explain to that to you as well, won't I?" spoke Professor Frankly.

The audience demanded that Professor Frankly tell them.

"Alright…I'll explain to you how our heroes all together…" agreed Professor Frankly.

_How do you think our heroes will fare off once they get together?_


	9. Chapter 9: All Together Now

Saving Neopia

_In this chapter, our heroes will all get together…which will be greatly useful considering they can't really take the Shadow Queen on alone…_

**Chapter 9: All Together Now**

"Now then, I suppose I should explain how our heroes got together…it's a long story." Professor Frankly explained.

"How long?" asked one of the Goombas, curious as always.

"Well, for one thing, it wasn't easy. The Shadow Queen made it clear what would happen to those that opposed her…as I already told you, she had taken precaution to ensure that nobody would do so…you've already heard about her three dragons and her Pit of 100 Trials, correct? Practically nobody wanted to fight against her at the time…which was such a pity given what an evil person she was…anyways, where was I? Ah yes." Professor Frankly continued.

_1000 years ago…_

Shroomo and Juniper both looked for others to join their cause, but unsurprisingly, there simply weren't any volunteers. Apparently, there were just too many people that found the Shadow Queen terrifying and wouldn't dare stand against her…in fact; they wouldn't even try to fight the weakest of her evil minions because of this. Apparently, she had drained them out of all their hope, which was indicated by the sad looks on their faces as they continued wandering around the towns that would soon fall under attack by the queen of darkness.

What were they going to do? They couldn't just waltz towards the Shadow Queen's Palace and confront herwith only two people; they would only meet a horrible end for sure if they tried that just like so many others. And they were all likely being hunted down by her enforcers as they continued searching, which grew in number by the day.

Our two heroes knew they couldn't keep fighting the Shadow Queen's forces forever and that eventually they would be overwhelmed. They began to wonder if they should simply surrender to the Queen of Darkness and put an end to the constant fighting and running once and for all. It seemed more and more of a good idea as they kept on fighting her evil minions.

But then they remembered how much the land was suffering because of the actions of the Shadow Queen, and decided that this was a cause worth fighting for. They couldn't just give up if there were so much at stake…after all; the queen was probably plotting to do something even more atrocious than what she had already done.

And so Shroomo and Juniper continued looking for heroes to join their cause, despite its apparent futility…and eventually they managed to succeed against all odds, as our heroes eventually managed to finally get together after many days of searching…

As it turns out, there were two others that were looking for more recruits to fighting the Shadow Queen (and were having as little luck as they had)…suffice to say it was a blissful day when they finally managed to get together. It looked like fortune had finally shined upon them.

"Finally…it's taken us forever to find more people to join our cause." Shroomo stated.

"It seems that nobody wants to fight the Shadow Queen…they think she's invincible and that therefore she cannot be stopped." agreed Koop.

"If that's the case, then how are we going to defeat her?" wondered Terra.

Juniper thought and thought. Suddenly, she remembered that the Shadow Queen was using artifacts known as the Crystal Stars to boost her power. Perhaps they could use them against her?

"Maybe we could use the seven stars she created against her…it seems like a good idea as any." suggested Juniper.

"Good idea…but the thing is, where are we going to find them? The last time I checked, the queen of darkness hid them in seven different locations so that nobody could find them…we'll probably be looking for ages." pointed out Shroomo.

"That does sound like it would be a problem. Where are we going to start?" agreed Terra.

Just how were our heroes going to collect the Crystal Stars? Surely there had to be a way, but for the moment, our heroes were out of ideas. Just where were they going to get them? Given how big the territory that the Shadow Queen conquered was, they'd probably be searching for a needle in the haystack. And given the fact that the land was constantly being patrolled by her evil forces, they wouldn't exactly have much time to search for them.

Suddenly, their ghostly comrade remembered that General Koopilus had a map of the ancient artifacts that they could use to track them down…the problem was getting past his tight security. Granted, they'd probably be able to fight them off in the event they got caught considering how strong they all were…but they didn't want to take any chances. There just was too much at stake.

Fortunately, the former member of the Shadow Queen's army knew the facility like the back of her spectral hands…and she had the ability to turn our heroes invisible to help them sneak through it. Even so however, our heroes still had to be careful.

But nonetheless, our heroes agreed that it was worth a shot, and they asked Terra how they would be able to get there.

"Besides, I've got a score to settle with that fiend." explained Koop.

Unfortunately, General Koopilus was plotting his revenge on Koop and Terra as they spoke…

_At General Koopilus's Fortress…_

"How did they manage to escape?" bellowed the evil general. He had worked so hard on that deathtrap…and he had been relishing the thought of destroying his adversary with it. Naturally, he had no such luck.

"We're not sure, sir! Last time I checked you had Terra watching over him to made sure he didn't get out of his death trap…" answered the Koopa.

Kooplilus thought about this…and suddenly it him how he escaped.

"That filthy traitor!" screeched the general, slashing his messenger until he spun around and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"She'll regret the day she decided to betray me…as for her Koopa friend…I'm not going to set up a death trap this time…I'm just going to run him through with my sword…" the general spoke to himself. "And to think those fools honestly think they can deal with the Shadow Queen…"

_It looks like General Koopilus is going to take revenge on our heroes…what are they going to do? _


	10. Chapter 10: Crystal Star Hunting

The Crystal Stars

_In this chapter, our four heroes will start searching for the Crystals Stars…hopefully they can find them all before the Shadow Queen gets too powerful…of course, we all know how their quest is going to turn out but let's see the story anyway, shall we?_

**Chapter 10: Crystal Star Hunting**

"After our heroes all got together, they began searching for the Crystal Stars…it would not be an easy task, as the Shadow Queen was careful to protect the stars from anyone that wished to steal them…and and would severely punish anyone that dared to try…" Professor Frankly once again read out loud.

_On the Plains of Koopa….1000 years ago…_

"Is this place called the Plains of Koopa because General Koopilus resides over it?" inquired Koop.

"Yes…apparently he has a big ego…so he decided to name his land after himself." answered Terra. "Just keep it down, will you? He probably has some of his troops around here to monitor for intruders."

Sure enough, a few Koopas spotted them and began to attack. Thankfully, they were somewhat easy to defeat, as Shroomo knocked them over and then jumped on top of them, causing them to explode into white smoke.

"Just be glad these were only his most basic soldiers…I hear he keeps his stronger ones as guards for his fortress." warned Terra.

Sure enough, our heroes noticed that his fortress was in the distance...it certainly looked menacing…but not nearly as menacing as The Shadow Queen's Palace itself.

"I wonder who built the castle? Was it the Shadow Queen herself? Or did General Koopilus build it?" Juniper asked.

"Funny you should mention that. I believe that it was built by his prisoners…due to the fact that he keeps getting them from the Shadow Queen I suppose that he's been using them for slave work." answered Terra.

"Just another reason to bring that slimeball to justice." thought Koop.

Our heroes noticed that there seemed to be Parakoopas flying around near the fortress.

"I wonder how we're going to bring them down so that we can fight them?" thought Shroomo.

Suddenly, he got an idea. Jumping high into the air, he managed to hit a Parakoopa on the head, causing its wings to disappear and for it to fall on its back.

"I hate it when that happens." stated Koop, recalling all the times he had been forced to lift himself up after being tripped.

Soon enough, they were at the front door…and noticed that there were several guards standing in front of it.

"I guess we shouldn't try using the front door then." suggested Shroomo.

Soon enough, the guards noticed our heroes and raised the bridge, preventing them from getting inside. Afterwards, they went to warn General Koopilus.

"We need to find a way in before they warn the general." informed Koop.

"Maybe we could try looking for a back entrance?" asked Juniper.

"Sounds like a plan." answered Shroomo.

Soon enough, Terra showed the back entrance…which curiously enough was not guarded nearly as well as the front entrance was. Our heroes were able to get inside the fortress without too many problems.

"Now then, all we have to do now is look for the treasure map. Where could it possibly be?" explained Shroomo.

"I think I might have seen it once…but I'm not sure." wondered Terra.

"We've got company!" warned Juniper, as several guards noticed them and began to attack.

"That's weird, I could have sworn that particular Koopa was executed by General Koopilus not too long ago…" thought one of the security guards. Why was he still alive? He pondered this as he launched his offensive.

Naturally, they didn't last long against our heroes…but just where was General Koopilus? He and Koop shared a deep personal grudge…why would he decide to hide from him? Maybe he was a coward…

"Come on out and fight!" demanded Koop.

"Looking for me?" asked General Koopilus.

Our heroes immediately noticed him…he must have known what our heroes were looking for, because he was holding out the treasure map for the Crystal Stars in his right hand.

"The Shadow Queen would have my head if I let you have this, you know. If you want it, you're going to have to catch me first." he spoke.

Immediately, our heroes began to chase after him…but unfortunately they were slowed down by more of his guards.

All the while, General Koopilus headed to the top of the fortress…he had already made plans for an escape in the event they actually managed to catch up with him. As it turns out, there was an airship flying around near the fortress.

"Reporting for duty!" the captain exclaimed.

Knowing how fast the airship was, General Koopilus decided to remain behind for the time being, just so he could gloat once the heroes managed to arrive. Assuming of course, the incompetent guards didn't manage to take them down, which he sincerely doubted.

"Hurry up! He's getting away!" exclaimed Shroomo.

"We're running as fast as we can!" replied Juniper. Apparently, being an old Goomba didn't make her much of a runner.

Eventually, our heroes came across what appeared to be General Koopilus's chambers. Due to the fact that he had a rather large ego, the room was rather posh, with a big chair reserved for the general himself.

"I bet he probably had his minions steal all this." thought Koop.

Curious, our heroes decided to check the chambers to see if there was anything the evil commander didn't want them to see. Soon enough, they saw a picture of three dragons…one of which resembled the dragon that Shroomo had faced earlier.

"I didn't know that Hooktail had two older brothers…" thought Shroomo as he examined the poster.

They also found a picture explaining the origins of the Shadow Queen…apparently she was a sorceress who went mad with her own power, and decided to conquer the kingdom using an army of evil minions because of it.

"That explains how she's creating all these monsters." pondered Juniper.

They also found a picture of the Crystal Stars…and discovered that there were seven of them.

"This adventure is going to take a long time if the Shadow Queen decided to separate them all." Koop wondered. And to think they didn't even have the map to get them yet.

Eventually, our heroes decided that they had uncovered enough information, and they should try to leave before any more of the guards spotted them. They continued advancing to the top of the fortress, where soon enough General Koopilus was waiting.

"You're too late!" he laughed. "I've already got escape plans…it looks like you won't be getting this map the Shadow Queen entrusted me with after all!"

Immediately, the airship dropped him a ladder, which he eagerly climbed.

"Stop him! He's getting away!" Terra exclaimed.

Thankfully, our four heroes managed to hop aboard the airship just as it was about to take off, much to General Koopilus's frustration.

"I'm really sick of your persistence. You honestly think that you can fight the Shadow Queen? I don't think you could even face one of her lieutenants!" taunted General Koopilus.

"Shut up." replied Koop, punching him in the face and giving him a black eye.

"How dare you!" he yelled, pulling out his sword. Immediately, he started to swing it at our heroes, hoping to literally cut them down to size.

Shroomo gave the general another black eye, as he once again punched him in the face while he was distracted. Unfortunately, he managed to stab him in the arm.

"Ow! My arm!" he screamed.

"Hahaha…that's just a taste of what I'm going to do." laughed the evil overlord.

Suddenly, he found himself slapped several times by Terra, and he snarled in rage.

"Ah yes…you're the one that betrayed me and ruined my perfect deathtrap…well I suppose I'll have to reward you for your betrayal…"

Immediately, the general launched several dark fireballs at Terra. Apparently, the Shadow Queen had given him the ability to use dark magic.

Thankfully, Terra was too quick for him, and dodged every single one.

"Hold still, why don't you?" he demanded.

The airship was high in the sky now, and our heroes started to get concerned. What if they fell off? Granted, Terra would be safe considering that she was a ghost and therefore could fly, but the others didn't have this luxury.

"Here's an idea! Why don't I make you walk the plank!" he exclaimed, trying to knock our heroes off the airship with his sword.

This proved to be a rather large problem, as General Koopilus was rather fast with his sword and our heroes weren't able to fight back.

Nobody except Terra that is. As it turns out, Koopilus's sword simply went right through her, and she immediately started possessing his body.

"Terra, you traitor! Aarghh!" he screamed.

Afterwards, the Boo made him stab himself with his own sword, cuasing him to collapse on the ground. Was the battle over?

Suddenly, the general expelled Terra from his body and grabbed onto Koop's neck. He wasn't out of the picture quite yet.

However, Shroomo had enough of the general of this point, and punched him right off of the airship. He screamed as he fell…unfortunately, he was not one of the Koopas that was blessed with wings.

"Thanks for help…is he gone?" he asked.

"Mm-hmm…it seems that we've actually managed to defeat one of the Shadow Queen's enforcers…perhaps she isn't as powerful as she claims to be…" wondered Juniper.

Afterwards, our heroes retrieved the map and hijacked the airship…and started wondering where they should travel next.

"How about Hooktail's Castle? I've got a grudge against her…" suggested Shroomo.

"Isn't she a ferocious dragon that eats everything in sight?" questioned Koop.

"Well, it's not like she'd be able to eat me…I am a ghost after all…she'd probably still be able to roast me with her fire breath though." added Terra.

"I believe that we should all be able to defeat her…as long as we stick together and are cautious." spoke Juniper.

"Then I guess we should get going." Shroomo agreed.

And so our heroes set off to find the first Crystal Star.

_Meanwhile…_

"So, General Koopilus's game has ended?" asked the Shadow Queen.

"Yes…apparently, he fell to his doom after someone pushed him off of his airship. As for the airship itself, it is now under the control of your enemies." explained one of the Parakoopa guards.

The Shadow Queen pondered this turn of events.

"It appears that the four heroes who insist on stopping me are more dangerous than they appear…I'll start making preparations." she explained.

Immediately, she ordered her remaining generals to be on the look out for the foursome. They immediately nodded and they in turn began ordering their own respective armies to do the same.

"They think they can stop me? Well then, we shall see what exactly they're capable of…" thought the Shadow Queen.

_Back to Professor Frankly…_

Professor Frankly immediately fell asleep after reading the latest chapter of the book. His audience immediately tried to wake him up. Apparently, they wanted to hear more of the story.

"Aw man! We're going to have to wait forever!" complained a Goomba kid.

_It looks like things won't be so easy for our heroes for now on…can they locate the first Crystal Star irregardless? Or will their victory in this chapter be a one-time fluke? Tune in for the next chapter…_


	11. Chapter 11: Return of the Dragon

The Crystal Stars

_In this chapter, our heroes are going to search for the first Crystal Star…now that they have a map it should be a lot easier for them to obtain…but of course it's still not going to be easy…then again what did you expect? We're trying to make things dramatic here…I suppose it wouldn't be as good of a story if the Shadow Queen's wasn't so freakishly strong…_

_But nonetheless our heroes will prevail…why you ask? Because they're a bunch of lucky guys, that's what…it's as if the angels are shining upon them…speaking of angels, I wonder if Princess Peach is one? Then again last time I checked she doesn't have wings…but she does have a parasol she can use to glide with, so I guess that's something similar._

**Chapter 11: Return of the Dragon**

"After they defeated General Koopilus, our four heroes began to look for the Crystal Stars, knowing that they could use them against the Shadow Queen to help bring her to justice." Professor Frankly read out loud.

_At a local village community…1000 years ago._

"Which Crystal Star do you think we should look for first? According to the map there are seven of them…of course, there are four of us, but I don't think it's a good idea to split up." Shroomo pointed out.

"Let me check the map." ordered Koop.

Searching the map, he discovered that apparently, the nearest star was the Diamond Star. He told his allies that they should probably go for that one first.

"Sounds like a plan to me." agreed Terra.

And so our heroes began looking for the Diamond Star. Naturally, it was going to be heavily guarded, so our heroes realized that they would need to keep their eyes peeled for anything that was out of the ordinary.

As it turns out, they were being watched by the Shadow Queen.

"Let's give them a taste of my power, shall we?" she murmured.

Out of nowhere, they suddenly noticed that there seemed to be a storm approaching.

"That's weird…it was sunny just a few minutes ago." wondered Juniper.

"We're going to have to land the airship, unfortunately. We can't just fly around when there's bad weather. We might get struck by lightning or something." warned Shroomo.

"That's too bad. It looks like we're going to have to find shelter somewhere." complained Koop.

"I guess we better start looking." said Terra.

And so our heroes began searching for some sort of camp…soon enough they saw a village…which was being attacked by the Shadow Queen's forces.

"Help us!" the Toad villagers yelped.

"Mwahahahaha! You are no match for us! Surrender now!" taunted the evil minions.

"We've got to do something! We can't just sit there and let the Shadow Queen take over this village! She already rules half of the Mushroom Kingdom as it is!" screamed Shroomo.

And so our heroes did try to do something about what was happening. Among the invading forces were Goombas, Koopas, Paragoombas, Spiked Goombas, and curiously enough Spinias.

"I guess this must be a scouting squad or something." thought Shroomo.

Thankfully, our heroes were able to fend off the Shadow Queen's forces. Shroomo immediately jumped on top of the Paragoombas, Koop fired his shell at the Goombas and Spiked Goombas, Juniper defeated the Spinias, and Terra slapped the Koopas until they fell down on their backs.

Overall, it wasn't a very difficult battle, and our heroes defeated the evil minions in no time.

"If only our battles could always be this easy." stated Shroomo.

"Personally, I was expecting more of a challenge." Koop said.

Suddenly, a Giant Goomba stomped into the village, causing them all to gasp in surprise.

"OK, maybe I shouldn't have said that." spoke Koop.

"How are we going to take that Goomba down? It's so big!" exclaimed Terra.

"The same way you take down an ordinary Goomba." answered Juniper.

Shroomo immediately stomped on the Giant Goomba. Due to its immense size, this did not automatically defeat it, but it did make it dizzy.

"Why are they suddenly so many of you? I thought you were only four…" he murmured.

Our heroes then unloaded their attacks on the Giant Goomba, which sent him flying away.

"Thank you for saving our village from those monsters!" exclaimed the mayor. "How can we ever repay you?"

"We could use some shelter…also, we're looking for a magical star that's made out of diamond. Do you know where it is?" asked Shroomo.

"No, but we did overhear some of the minions talking about it. Apparently, it's in the treasury of a fiery dragon. I wouldn't try looking for it if I were you." warned the mayor.

"Thanks for the information…" answered Juniper.

"If you really want it so bad, I suggest that you head to the dragon's castle. Problem is, the path up ahead is guarded by the Shadow Queen's minions. Apparently that particular beast has some friends." explained a villager.

"Something tells me that the dragon wanted to loot your village…" murmured Terra.

"Believe me, that overgrown reptile has already destroyed many towns with her fire breath. I heard the other day that someone stopped her from attacking a village though." said another villager.

"Funny, I recall fighting a dragon earlier…could she be the same?" wondered Shroomo.

"If you want to leave the village, go right ahead. But be careful out there." suggested the mayor.

After staying for the night, our heroes left the village so that they could look for Hooktail. They could see her castle up ahead, but it was rather far away. It looked like they were going to have a hard time getting there.

Suddenly, they heard a roaring noise, and noticed the dragon flying towards the castle. Shroomo immediately recognized her.

"Oh my shrooms! It's the same dragon that attacked my hometown! I thought I had seen the last of her…" he thought.

"Well, apparently you didn't, because now we're probably going to have to face her so that we can get the Diamond Star." warned Juniper.

"A dragon eh? Funny, I don't think I've ever fought something that big." commented Koop.

"Let's just say that I wasn't always a Boo…" said Terra.

Our heroes started to have second thoughts about going to get the Diamond Star. How were they going to take down something that big?

But they eventually figured that they probably needed the Crystal Star so that they could take on the Shadow Queen, and they decided to continue onward.

Of course, they found that things weren't going to be that simple. Immediately, they found more of the queen's minions.

"Did you hear the news? Apparently someone went and took down General Koopilus, and now they have his treasure map of the Crystal Stars." explained one of the Bald Clefts.

"That's no good, that might damage her royal highness's reputation as the queen of darkness. After all, she does want people to fear her. I hear that the queen is considering bringing him back from the dead and making him more powerful though." nodded the other Bald Cleft.

"Is that so? In that case, General Koopilus might get a chance to redeem himself after the fiasco that occurred. You think she will make him a Parakoopa so that he won't fall to his doom again?" he wondered.

"The Shadow Queen's thinking about resurrecting General Koopilus and making him stronger than before? That's no good, he was enough of a problem for me as it was." thought Koop.

Suddenly, they were noticed by the Bald Clefts.

"Hey! It's the guys that defeated General Koopilus! Let's get them!" bellowed one of the Bald Clefts.

"You sure about that? They look kind of tough…and there's four of them and only two of us." answered the other Bald Cleft.

"Nonsense! We'll be fine! We're made of stone, remember?" stated the eager Bald Cleft.

"I hope you're right." answered the nervous Bald Cleft.

Immediately, the dastardly duo began trying to attack our four heroes by ramming into them. Our heroes then realized they had a problem.

"Ow! My hand!" screamed Shroomo. He had learned the hard way why punching a rock was not a good idea.

"Nice try, but in case you haven't noticed, we have killer defense!" answered the first Bald Cleft.

"Yeah, good luck trying to damage us!" taunted the second Bald Cleft.

"How are we going to hurt them? They're made out of rock." asked Terra.

Suddenly, Koop got an idea. He spun around in his shell towards the Bald Clefts, knocking them both down.

"Aargh!" they screamed. "Let us up!"

Shroomo then jumped on them while they were upside-down, causing cracks to begin forming.

"Oh nooo!" they bellowed.

Eventually, they crumbled into rubble, which was swept away in the wind.

"Phew, I didn't know that the Shadow Queen had rock monsters on her side." stated Shroomo.

"Well, apparently she does. And I get the feeling we're eventually going to encounter more of them." warned Koop.

Sure enough, our heroes encountered more monsters. These particular ones were spiky.

"This isn't good. Bristles are known to be covered with spikes, which makes them difficult to attack. I don't think trying to punch them or jumping on top of their heads is going to work." warned Juniper.

"How do we attack them then?" asked Shroomo.

Terra then demonstrated by slapping the Bristles in the face. Due to the fact she was transparent, the spikes simply went through her.

"Aargh!" one of the Bristles screamed.

"We're being clobbered by a girl!" bellowed the other Bristle.

The two Bristles then collapsed into a pile of spikes, allowing our heroes to continue.

"Sheesh, the mobs we've been encountering lately have such high defense." stated Shroomo.

"Perhaps the Shadow Queen is getting more determined to stop us now that we defeated one of her generals?" answered Koop.

"That would explain that Giant Goomba." agreed Juniper.

"Speaking of which, I wonder what she's up to now." said Terra.

_Meanwhile…_

The Shadow Queen approached General Koopilus, or whatever what remained of him. Interestingly enough, all that remained of the evil general was his black shell, which was cracked and broken.

"You don't really deserve this…but I'm giving you a second chance to deal with those weak pests." she said.

She then began to use dark magic on the shell, slowly, the general's shell started to regenerate itself, and immediately his head, arms, and legs popped right out of it.

"What happened? The last thing I remember is falling off of my airship…" he stated.

"Let's just say that you crumbled like tissue paper. I'm really disappointed in you." the queen of darkness exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, mistress! It won't happen again!" he bellowed.

The Shadow Queen immediately grabbed onto the Koopa's neck with one hand. She then lifted him high in the air, and started choking him.

"Don't expect me to bring you back from the dead again, Koopilus. I'm already disappointed with your original failure at it is. Do you understand?" warned the Shadow Queen.

"Yes, we're clear!" he screamed, trying to avoid being strangled.

"Anyways, due to the fact that you've been in my service for several years, I've decided to give you a gift. In return, I'm giving you the task of destroying these four little pests that insist on stopping me." she exclaimed.

She snapped her fingers, and suddenly black wings sprouted out of Koopilus's shell. It was actually somewhat painful.

"Yeowch!" he bellowed.

"You're going to feel far more pain than that if you fail me again, understood?" she inquired.

"Understood." General Koopilus nodded.

"Fortunately, my scouts report that the four that call themselves heroes are currently heading towards my youngest pet dragon's castle. If you're lucky, you might not even need to destroy them yourself. But don't count on it." she exclaimed.

"So, you're not sending me right away then?" asked the general.

"No. And before I forget, here's another gift of mine for giving the heroes the treasure map to the Crystal Stars and your airship." The Shadow Queen then struck General Koopilus with lightning.

"Yeow!" he screamed. That lightning bolt actually hurt him pretty badly.

"Thanks to you, the four heroes now have powerful weapons they can use against me. I hope you're pleased with yourself." the queen stated. She then teleported back to her castle.

General Koopilus then flew away, trying to see if he could find our four heroes so that he could spy on them.

"I shouldn't worry myself. Those four heroes don't stand a chance against that dragon. They're going to be devoured for her lunch." he thought to himself.

_Back to present…_

"Oh no! The Shadow Queen has resurrected General Koopilus! Now what are our heroes going to do?" inquired a Shy Guy.

"Don't worry, our heroes are going to be fine. At least until the end of the story…" explained Professor Frankly.

"What?" asked one of the Goombas.

"I'm not going to simply tell you what happens at the end, that would be spoiling the story and I think most of you wouldn't want that. For now, let's just read about our heroes' current task." Professor Frankly said, as he continued reading.

_It appears that the Shadow Queen isn't going to sit on her throne while her minions continue to battle the four heroes. She's already resurrected the general they've defeated earlier…and to make things more interesting she's given him the ability to fly…suffice to say trying to knock him off his airship won't work anymore…no sirree._

_In the next chapter, our four heroes are going to continue to Hooktail's Castle…what do you think they're going to find in there? Hopefully they won't find any stinky dragon dung…but I suppose we shouldn't talk about that because it's a rather nasty subject…and for all we know Hooktail might in fact be potty trained._

_I can tell you one thing, they're going to find skeletons…and lots of them. There's possibly enough to fill the entire castle, to be honest. But you should probably know that if you've actually played Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door…or read a walkthrough for that matter._


End file.
